How Can Pinterest Help Your Business? – You Need To Read This!

Are you on Pinterest?

An insipid question right? I know with the entire buzz about Pinterest being the latest and hottest new social network in town, who wouldn’t be!

Would you be surprised that despite the buzz, I only created a Pinterest account  just a few weeks ago?

Wondering why? It's because I am not really keen about jumping into every opportunity that comes along. I always want to be sure that adding another social network to the ones I’m already using will help further my business objectives and not just be another time waster!

And that was the reason why I had to do some research to know how Pinterest can truly help an online business. So, in this article I want to share with you some very interesting facts and ways pinterest can help your business which I have been able to uncover.

So, let’s begin.

But first,

Pinterest.com images

What Is Pinterest?

According to Wikipedia,

“Pinterest is a pinboard-style social photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies, and more. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration,’re-pin' images to their own collections or ‘like' photos. Pinterest's mission is to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things' they find interesting” via a global platform of inspiration and idea sharing. “

It is founded by Ben Silbermann, of West Des Moines, Iowa and it is funded by a small group of entrepreneurs and inventors.

Why is Pinterest Creating Such Waves?

It does appear the social media bug has infected just about everyone online these days. Coming from now where, Pinterest suddenly appeared on the social media landscape like a storm!

In December of 2011, Experian Hotwise placed Pinterest as one of the top ten social networks at an enviable #5, beating big names like LinkedIn and Google plus!

From my own calculations, this is definitely the reason for all the attention that Pinterest is enjoying today because Compete.com later reported that between December 2011 (when the Hotwise report came out) and January 2012, unique visitors to Pinterest increased by 155%!

Yes, 155% within a period of one month!

pinterest growth comcast

Do you think online marketers who are always looking for easy ways of generating quick traffic ignore such potentials?

Not in your life!

A Few Pinterest Lexicon

A Pin: This is an image added to pinterest. In all indication, this is Pinterest’s content.

Pinning: This is an act of visually sharing content on Pinterest. As tweeting is to twitter!

Pinboard: This is a set of theme-based pins. You can create different pinboards on different topics or titles. If you’re using WordPress as a blogger you could equate this with categories!

Repin: This is when you repost somebody else’s pin. Again you can think of retweeting in twitter!

Pin it button: This is the pinterest button which you can place on your website or blog to facilitate the sharing of your content on pinterest. Any pin that is added using the “Pin It Button,” links back to the site they came from. This is very important for businesses who want to use Pinterest for business dealings.

Pinner: This is a person who does the pinning.

Now,

How Can Pinterest Help Your Business?

1.    Generate More Traffic to Your Website/Blog

Your business definitely needs more traffic for increased sales. From all indication Pinterest can greatly help you with this. Reports already show that pinterest drives more traffic to websites than facebook and Google plus! Well, this is not really a surprise to me because these two sites have not really proven to be traffic generators in my experience.

So, if these statistics are correct then for one, it is something every business person should consider. I don't know if you are still dilly-dallying or you already have a pinterest account. If you don't, consider requesting your invite now to get a slice of that traffic!

2.    Build Back Links

Every online marketer knows the value of back links to their business website or blog. From my research this is another area pinterest can greatly help you. If you are using the pinterest “Pin It” button on your site, every pin using the button has a link back to the source. Though these links are ‘nofollow’ links and may not directly affect your search rankings, yet they are nonetheless valuable. Also those links can help in more people visiting your site.

3.    Generate Leads

This is another area that many businesses have reported good results. With the volume of traffic that you can get from Pinterest, implementing a good lead capture system is sure to produce outstanding results. If you have a social media selling strategy that takes Pinterest seriously, you will definitely want to make some good business from this.

4.    Social Integration/Sharing

The ability to integrate your social networks to ease sharing between your different social media profiles is a great way businesses can boost brand visibility. Pinterest has made this really easy as it gives members the option of sharing posts/pins through facebook, twitter and email. This means that with a single pin you can reach these other networks without visiting them.

Conclusion

Pinterest is indeed offering online marketers a new way of increasing business through communicating visually with potential clients/customers. This article has shown a few ways you can greatly use pinterest to your business advantage. However, you must take note that Pinterest states clearly in their Acceptable Use Policy that you are not allowed to use your account for commercial purposes. Nevertheless, under the Terms of Use there is a mention of individual accounts and accounts for companies and I'm sure no company will open an account if not for commercial purposes.

The trick in using Pinterest for business therefore, (just as in every other social media marketing) is not to blatantly showing off your products or services. It’s about finding creative ways to show your target audience how your product or service fits their lifestyle.

Indeed, this is a primer on using Pinterest for business but I hope it is helpful in some way!

As usual, I’ll be glad to read your comments and respond to them. Are you using Pinterest for business? What is your experience so far? share your thought with in your comment below.

52 Comments
  1. Pinterest is not as good as other social networking sites

    • @LLB Coaching,

      Hmm, I think by your own estimation. But can you give us details why you think so? You know, we all are learning and your opinion may just help some of us. Will you care to give details?

  2. Hey Chadrack

    I feel the same way, jumping on the latest bandwagon should be done only after you’ve analysed exactly how it can positively work for your business plan.

    However I do seem many bloggers use a Pinterest plugin that auto displays a Pin it button on images. But I do wonder if they are REALLY getting any value of using it. Using this social site requires high level cunning and solid methods of optimising every grain of exposure.

    • @Simmeon,

      I quite agree with you that using Pinterest demands some ‘cunning’ tactics. And I must say that automated Pin it button is truly such a cunning tactic. You know it’s use is to encourage you to pin the graphic on which it auto displays.

      On the other hand, the fact is that a graphic needs to be enticing enough to encourage such interest. I’m really looking forward to using more enticing graphics in the coming days.

      Thanks for the comment

  3. I’m still on the fence about pinterest. I don’t think it will be all that relevant anymore in a few months.

    • @Quack,

      That’s was one of the reasons why I stayed away all this while! But you know as business persons you just don’t ignore any little opportunity that can impact on your business. If others are reporting good traffic from pinterest why stay away?

  4. I have recently started using pinterest and it is really confusing. On the other hand it is a great move to increase the copyright and privacy, I will share the images that I want with others. The ones I dont want to share with others, cannot be used by anyone else!

    • @Myra Kirbi,

      The issue of copyright is really a big problem on pinterest. But this is so because we have become used to just taking any graphic online and using it on our sites.

      However, the fact is, if you have been using photo from flickr.com for example on your sites and attributing credits to the owners, doing the same on pinterest is not really a big deal. Or don’t you think so?

      • @Chadrack, I have been extra careful while using the images now a days because of the above mentioned copyright and other issues. Like everybody else I was using Google image search earlier. But yes, now when I use the image I always give a credit line so that if he his getting link juices from my site, he shouldn’t mind it.. Isn’t it?

  5. Being a Pinterest user may increase you online presence. And as you know the more the better for your business. And it doesn’t really matter for your true followers if the backlinks are do or nofollow.

  6. Hi Chadrack,

    Great insights about Pinterest, But Pinterest is useful for your business if you’re using some catchy images on your website.

    If you don’t have attractive images then Pinterest is not for you.

    • @Aasma,

      That is true. However, it doesn’t have to be graphics on you site only. You ca also pin interesting photos from the web. The more you get involved the more people who will be following and very soon it could lead to some traffic to your site.

      And of course, what stops you from using graphics on your site, even if it is minimal!

  7. I made an account on Pinterest few days ago but then I didn’t use pinterest. From this post it seems very useful in order to help in business.

    There was some doubt about pinterest in my mind that it is not so useful but the doubts are clear from this post.

    I would send this post to some of my friends who really think pinterest is not useful in order to gain traffic.

  8. I’m an active Pinterest’s user, and after reading this post I’ll certainly use it more and more

    • @Amanda@BuySellWordPress,

      Glad to hear that. Can you give some insight into her you are using pinterest right now? Will appreciate it.

      • Well, @Chadrack,as for me, then Pinterest is, first of all, an excellent source of new information, even if it’s said oe expressed with the help of an image. Secondly,it gives everyone an opportunity to promote various goods or services with easiness. And of course, it helps me to get more traffic

        • @Amanda,

          That’s great. Personally, I’m really finding the site an interesting place. Really good pictures and I’m sure that’s why the place is so addictive for many! 🙂

          Thanks for the reply.

  9. Hi, i´m a newbie so haven`t got to Pinterest as yet, I have taken note of your trick to not showing off your products or services. Just find creative ways to show them how your product or service fits their lifestyle.1 question though, does it definately bring in traffic and reasonably quickly?

    • @lenin,

      Thanks for your comment and it’s glad to know that the post resonate with. About being a newbies, all of us have been and of course, we are still newbies in many areas.

      About traffic from pinterest, so far I’ve not really seen much. But as you can see I’m only just starting with the network but from what I heard from other sites it is really a good source of traffic.

  10. Hi Chadrack,
    Good to see you again with some other good.you have take a new and very interesting topic.I don’t know more about pinterest but it is good for websites which has good and attractive pics not all sites which has no images or good images.
    although it is a good source traffic but you need to change in your websites and edit good images.

    Bhushan

    • @Bhushan,

      You’re definitely correct. Successfully using Pinterest to drive traffic demands some creative use of graphic on your site/blog. But I don’t really think you will need to be a great graphic designer before you can use it. All you need is to search online for graphics you can use commercially or freely. As long as you give credit where neccessary, you can always pin these same pictures on pinterest and they will link back to your blog.

      Thanks for the great comment!

  11. Brilliant information. pinterest is a social network that allows users to visually share, curate, and discover new
    interests by posting, also known as ‘pinning,’ images or videos to their own or others’ pinboards
    (i.e. a collection of ‘pins,’ usually with a common theme). users can either upload images from
    their computer or pin things they find on the web using the pinterest bookmarklet, pin it button,
    or just a url. Thank you.

    • @love guru,

      Thanks for the “definition” love guru! Would you care to let us know if you’re using pinterest right now and how much success you have achieved so far? We will want to know.

  12. Hi Chadrack

    I started using Pinterest a while back but I kind of lost interest as it really didn’t generate much traffic for me.

    I was also concerned firstly about the copyright issues, particularly as our copyright laws here in the UK seem to be very strict. But also the fact that Pinterest’s Acceptable Use Policy doesn’t allow you to use your account for commercial purposes, unless they agree to it beforehand.

    Since then, I’ve found that Twitter generates above and beyond the most traffic for me of any of the social media sites.

    I’d be interested to know how you get on with generating traffic from Pinterest though and what your strategy was.

    Thank you for sharing.

    Tim

    • @Tim Bonner,

      Frankly, the copyright issue was one of the reasons for me staying away for this long. When I first heard of pinterest early this year, that was the first thing that came up in the article I read then.

      However, from my research and what I can deduced so far, if you can use these graphics in your site and give due credit to the rightful owners, pinning the graphic on your pinboard is not really a problem. And if you’re pinning a photo from the web, the site showing the photo you want to pin definitely must have also given the credit to the rightful owner. So, you can see that somehow the issue of copyright has been taken care of. 🙂

      On using pinterest for business, I mentioned this on the post. I want to say it is just like any other social media site. Selling directly on the site or any thing like that will not work. I wrote a post sometime ago about using social media for selling,I think it does apply to pinterest also. Read the post here:

      http://webincomejournal.com/5510/3-scientific-steps-to-social-media-selling.html

      Using pinterest for business will demand you finding a way to lead the traffic back to your site and then “selling” them on your site!

      Of course, I don’t know how long you used the site before you decided to look to twitter. But all the reports I’ve received so far speak well for pinterest when it comes to e-commerce sites. Of course, I can’t say much for myself for now since I’m just starting with it. But I look forward to creating some good results also. 🙂

      Thanks for joining the conversation.

  13. I have these days started using pinterest and it is really complex. However it is a amazing move to enhance the signature and enjoyment, I will talk about the images that I want with others. The ones I don’t want to talk about with others, cannot be used by anyone else!

    • @tissue microarray,

      Really complex? Of course, every thing need time to master. Just give yourself to it more and more and very soon you will be making waves; 🙂

  14. Hi Chadrack,

    Pinterest really play great role for internet marketer indeed everyone know that platform get very quick popularity I was logged my account for last 3 month before and I got my major traffic from pinterest.I also got very popularity in selling local suits with my online store.

    • @Asma Khan,

      Wow! That’s great to hear. I think you are the only one who has given a good report here so far. We’ll love to have more details from or wouldn’t help those who are still finding it difficult to find a foothold on pinterest?

      • Hey Chadrack,
        I don’t know why people didn’t trying to adopt things mostly people are using same twitter and facebook platform indeed its good for getting traffics but why didn’t if pinterest support in more easy way.I think people scared with change.

        • @Asma Khan,

          Speaking for myself I must say, I was not really scared of the change. I only stayed away until I’m sure it can help my business. Don’t you think that is why some people are not using Pinterest for now? Or, I think some other possible reason may be the fact that you need to create some good graphic to make any impact on pinterest unlike other social networks that depend on basically text!

          Or don’t you think so?

  15. Being a Pinterest user may increase you online presence. And as you know the more the better for your business. And it doesn’t really matter for your true followers if the backlinks are do or nofollow.

  16. I have recently started using pinterest and it is really confusing. On the other hand it is a fully incredible move to increase the copyright and privacy, I will share the pictures that I want with others. The ones I do not need to share with others, cannot be used by anybody else!

  17. Awesome article, expecially for newbies in Pinterest like me. I will try to implement ur advice and hope to boost my IM goals. Thank man, regards!

  18. yup Pinterest are really doing a great job , i have been using Pinterest for few months , its really interesting and informative , i share many images in my profile creating specific Boards and also get many innovative images from others Boards, now sharing images has become more popular among all and this service is best for sharing images through online media network ,Globally.

    • @list of social bookmarking sites,

      That is really the trick, getting good images to share with your network and more and more people are getting addicted to the site, or don’t you think so? You sound as if you are already addicted 🙂

  19. You will discover plenty of techniques to describe the primary distinction between traditional and content marketing, so consider what your management team likes you most likely probably the most

  20. I enjoyed this article. It gave our business more to think about and yes I’ll be better at utilizing my Pinterest account.

  21. Pintrest is giving a touch competition to facebook. I used pintrest and it is very useful for all the bloggers as it can help us to drive a lots of traffic to our website. And yes it can help in the growth of our business. Anyways thanks to the author for sharing the information .

  22. Reply
    Link Building Services September 4, 2012 at 1:14 am

    Pinterest is fast becoming one of the most popular social networking sites in the world. More and more brands are using it to effectively promote their products or services within the site.

  23. premier article, expecially for newbies in Pinterest like me. I will try to implement ur advice and hope to boost my IM goals. Thank man, regards!

  24. Wow I love your blog! It is really a great resource I am so glad I found it today! I am going to be reading a lot since it seems you have a lot of different information from what most blogs offer. Seems to me you write great quality content that I am going to have to get doing myself!

    Great Post and Keep up the Good Work!

  25. Reply
    Charcoal Briquetting Machine September 10, 2012 at 9:59 am

    I really like your blog! It is really an excellent source I am so grateful I discovered it today! I am going to be studying a lot since it seems you have a lot of different details from what most weblogs provide. Seems to me you create high excellent material that I am going to have to get doing myself.

  26. Really, This post is very informative and very innovative. I used pintrest and it is very useful for all the bloggers as it can help us to drive a lots of traffic to our website.In the Pinterest sites you can upload the images of your business with commenting.And you can tell about your own business.Really its very useful. Thanks for sharing this post.

  27. Reply
    Pouch Packaging Machines November 5, 2012 at 7:27 am

    So, if these statistics are correct then for one, it is something every business person should consider. I don’t know if you are still dilly-dallying or you already have a pinterest account. If you don’t, consider requesting your invite now to get a slice of that traffic!

  28. Pinterest is a image sharing website but it works like a social networking site like stumbleupon . It gives backlinks also that increase search engine ranking and drive traffic to blog

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